If you've held on to a G4 this long, then a white MacBook 9400M with AppleCare, can last you a full 3 years.
Think about it. You solve your G4 mess (although do try and work out first what exactly is wrong with it)... *AND* you get to see within 3 years' time what's the best thing that comes out of Apple that suits you. Then get that and sell your white MacBook.
Sure, get a PC if you have to, I can't deny that's always an option.
But right now, looking at the Apple lineup, that white MacBook 9400M is really where the best value is, and can drive a 22" monitor reasonably well. If you want to push it further, go 4GB of RAM, and a 7200rpm drive makes a big, big difference.
A fresh start, no doubt a stopgap, but we've been there. Having a sucky computer or worse, not having one, is... sucky.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequitur
My apologies for whining, but every day, some function of my G4 stops working or takes forever to do.
Today, Drag & Drop stopped working. It's been suggested that I dump the system (after backing up of course - SuperDuper does still work - but slooooooooooowly.) and reinstall. If I do that and it doesn't work or gets worse, I'm up the creek without a paddle. Then I WILL have to go PC. I'm a coward - I'm afraid to reinstall. If it's hardware that's going down the drain, I doubt that reinstalling will help.
Nvidia, I'm close to taking your advice and going white MB, but that's just a stop gap measure. I'll have to add that cost in when Apple deems fit to market new desktops.
Thanks guys for giving me a shoulder to cry on. It really does help when you know someone hears you (unfortunately, not Apple.) I'd be crying in my beer and sobbing, "Oh woe is me." if it weren't for AI.
Also, check the amount of RAM installed under About This Mac... it is possible that you've had a RAM stick go bad. If so, it may not show up there, but too little RAM can cause the symptoms you're describing.
If there's less reported than you expect, try reseating the RAM first
I'm using Tiger. My G4 has 1GB RAM - the max.
I've tried several suggestions that AI members made with limited success. As you suggested, Kickaha, I reseated the RAM even though About This Mac showed the correct amount. Still no complete joy, but I was able to access the Finder afterward. Following this, I opened my Back Up drive (which also had problems) as the Start Up Disk. In Disk Utility, I did a Repair Disk on my main Drive. After the repair, I tried to change it to the Start Up Disk. NO luck. However, using Disk Utility again, I did a Repair Disk on the Back Up Drive. Then, I was able to make my main Drive the start up disk. There are still some aberrations, but I can use the computer for most of what I want. I'm as happy as a pig in sh__. If this holds up until Apple comes out with a replacement for me, I'll even stop Apple/SJ-bashing.
Thanks guys, I appreciate your help and encouragement. I was just about resigned that I would have to commit seppuku (hara kiri). What's a Samurai (read Mac user) without his trusty Katana sword (read Mac computer).
sequitur, actually, what do you need your G4 to do? What apps do you run, is it for work, etc?
I use the computer for maintaining teaching records at Miami-Dade College (largest college in the US), for my business - Sequitur Systems - (Office, Quick Books, etc. ) I also use it to write a word game called, "A Pun My Word." The game consists of homophones that take the place of the actual words. For example: 'Sharon, Cheryl, Ike" = Share and share alike. Years of work re: teaching, Sequitur Systems, and the word game are on the computer and I wasn't able to access the Main HDD, two internal backups, or two external backups because Finder wasn't available. The backups MAY have been accessible from another computer, but I was still paranoid. With AI members backing, I can breathe more easily.
Good idea. I've had this happen many times, especially with laptops being bumped and DIMMs coming a little loose or bad.
Disk Warrior is a great tool too. It does cost a bit but is a valuable tool to have anyway. I have version 4 at work and it's very good at recovering drives that won't boot or mount anymore.
One more thing to add: boot from the Apple Hardware test disk that came with your G4 if you haven't already. It can sometimes pinpoint what DIMM is bad or if your logic board is failing.
Not even 24 hours since I thought my G4 was "fixed" and it's showing signs of some of the old problems. Disk Warrior and the Test Disk may be options normally, but not when my Finder disappears. I wouldn't be able to access the HDD's to use repair programs.
I tried reseating the RAM again, but it didn't help this time. Possibly an intermittent RAM problem. Maybe one of the other suggestions you guys made worked and I wasn't aware of which one. I had tried a bunch of things before the finder finally reappeared. Fortunately, I have access to Finder so far this time.
C'mon Apple - REPLACEMENTS PLEASE- don't make me come and slap you.
Not even 24 hours since I thought my G4 was "fixed" and it's showing signs of some of the old problems. Disk Warrior and the Test Disk may be options normally, but not when my Finder disappears. I wouldn't be able to access the HDD's to use repair programs.
I tried reseating the RAM again, but it didn't help this time. Possibly an intermittent RAM problem. Maybe one of the other suggestions you guys made worked and I wasn't aware of which one. I had tried a bunch of things before the finder finally reappeared. Fortunately, I have access to Finder so far this time.
C'mon Apple - REPLACEMENTS PLEASE- don't make me come and slap you.
Neither Disk Warrior nor doing fsck require you too boot into your finder. DW makes you boot off a CD and running fsck requires you to boot into single user mode. You sound like you have serious directory problems on your system. you should try them.
Sequitur...although it sounds like a software issue...if you can locate the Hardware Test CD/DVD for that system and boot from that, it might also be another option to check to see if your hardware is on the up & up; rule it out completely from the equation. I had a Power Mac G4 Server once that went crazy, and it turned out to be the AGP graphics card that was causing the system to melt down. No amount of re-installing, re-formatting, switching disks, or the like would fix that problem!
Comments
Think about it. You solve your G4 mess (although do try and work out first what exactly is wrong with it)... *AND* you get to see within 3 years' time what's the best thing that comes out of Apple that suits you. Then get that and sell your white MacBook.
Sure, get a PC if you have to, I can't deny that's always an option.
But right now, looking at the Apple lineup, that white MacBook 9400M is really where the best value is, and can drive a 22" monitor reasonably well. If you want to push it further, go 4GB of RAM, and a 7200rpm drive makes a big, big difference.
A fresh start, no doubt a stopgap, but we've been there. Having a sucky computer or worse, not having one, is... sucky.
My apologies for whining, but every day, some function of my G4 stops working or takes forever to do.
Today, Drag & Drop stopped working. It's been suggested that I dump the system (after backing up of course - SuperDuper does still work - but slooooooooooowly.) and reinstall. If I do that and it doesn't work or gets worse, I'm up the creek without a paddle. Then I WILL have to go PC. I'm a coward - I'm afraid to reinstall. If it's hardware that's going down the drain, I doubt that reinstalling will help.
Nvidia, I'm close to taking your advice and going white MB, but that's just a stop gap measure. I'll have to add that cost in when Apple deems fit to market new desktops.
Thanks guys for giving me a shoulder to cry on. It really does help when you know someone hears you (unfortunately, not Apple.) I'd be crying in my beer and sobbing, "Oh woe is me." if it weren't for AI.
Also, check the amount of RAM installed under About This Mac... it is possible that you've had a RAM stick go bad. If so, it may not show up there, but too little RAM can cause the symptoms you're describing.
If there's less reported than you expect, try reseating the RAM first
I'm using Tiger. My G4 has 1GB RAM - the max.
I've tried several suggestions that AI members made with limited success. As you suggested, Kickaha, I reseated the RAM even though About This Mac showed the correct amount. Still no complete joy, but I was able to access the Finder afterward. Following this, I opened my Back Up drive (which also had problems) as the Start Up Disk. In Disk Utility, I did a Repair Disk on my main Drive. After the repair, I tried to change it to the Start Up Disk. NO luck. However, using Disk Utility again, I did a Repair Disk on the Back Up Drive. Then, I was able to make my main Drive the start up disk. There are still some aberrations, but I can use the computer for most of what I want. I'm as happy as a pig in sh__. If this holds up until Apple comes out with a replacement for me, I'll even stop Apple/SJ-bashing.
Thanks guys, I appreciate your help and encouragement. I was just about resigned that I would have to commit seppuku (hara kiri). What's a Samurai (read Mac user) without his trusty Katana sword (read Mac computer).
sequitur, actually, what do you need your G4 to do? What apps do you run, is it for work, etc?
I use the computer for maintaining teaching records at Miami-Dade College (largest college in the US), for my business - Sequitur Systems - (Office, Quick Books, etc. ) I also use it to write a word game called, "A Pun My Word." The game consists of homophones that take the place of the actual words. For example: 'Sharon, Cheryl, Ike" = Share and share alike. Years of work re: teaching, Sequitur Systems, and the word game are on the computer and I wasn't able to access the Main HDD, two internal backups, or two external backups because Finder wasn't available. The backups MAY have been accessible from another computer, but I was still paranoid. With AI members backing, I can breathe more easily.
Good idea. I've had this happen many times, especially with laptops being bumped and DIMMs coming a little loose or bad.
Disk Warrior is a great tool too. It does cost a bit but is a valuable tool to have anyway. I have version 4 at work and it's very good at recovering drives that won't boot or mount anymore.
One more thing to add: boot from the Apple Hardware test disk that came with your G4 if you haven't already. It can sometimes pinpoint what DIMM is bad or if your logic board is failing.
Not even 24 hours since I thought my G4 was "fixed" and it's showing signs of some of the old problems. Disk Warrior and the Test Disk may be options normally, but not when my Finder disappears. I wouldn't be able to access the HDD's to use repair programs.
I tried reseating the RAM again, but it didn't help this time. Possibly an intermittent RAM problem. Maybe one of the other suggestions you guys made worked and I wasn't aware of which one. I had tried a bunch of things before the finder finally reappeared. Fortunately, I have access to Finder so far this time.
C'mon Apple - REPLACEMENTS PLEASE- don't make me come and slap you.
Not even 24 hours since I thought my G4 was "fixed" and it's showing signs of some of the old problems. Disk Warrior and the Test Disk may be options normally, but not when my Finder disappears. I wouldn't be able to access the HDD's to use repair programs.
I tried reseating the RAM again, but it didn't help this time. Possibly an intermittent RAM problem. Maybe one of the other suggestions you guys made worked and I wasn't aware of which one. I had tried a bunch of things before the finder finally reappeared. Fortunately, I have access to Finder so far this time.
C'mon Apple - REPLACEMENTS PLEASE- don't make me come and slap you.
Neither Disk Warrior nor doing fsck require you too boot into your finder. DW makes you boot off a CD and running fsck requires you to boot into single user mode. You sound like you have serious directory problems on your system. you should try them.